Cops Closer To Knowing How Natalie Wood Died

Natalie Wood

Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators say they're closer to understanding exactly how actress Natalie Wood died while boating off Catalina Island nearly four decades ago, but say they would still like to hear from her husband, Robert Wagner, reports The LATimes.

"We're not pressing charges on anyone … we want to figure out what happened," Lt. John Corina told reporters at a Monday news conference.

Wood In 'Miracle on 34th Street'

Natalie Wood, the 43-year-old star of "West Side Story," who couldn't swim, was boating off Catalina Island during Thanksgiving weekend 1981 with Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and others when she somehow went overboard and drowned. Officials at the time said her death was an accident, but speculation over whether there was more to the story has endured for more than three decades.

The Sheriff's Department reopened its investigation in 2011 but no charges were ever filed, and officials said at the time they were not sure if a crime had occurred.

The last official change in the case came in 2013, when the Los Angeles County coroner's office amended Wood's cause of death from "accidental drowning" to "drowning and other undetermined factors."

The coroner's report cited unexplained fresh bruising on the actress' right forearm, left wrist and right knee, along with a scratch on her neck and a superficial scrape on her forehead. Officials said the wounds open the possibility that she was assaulted before she drowned.